


Define: Mutagenics

by SteampunkLadybird



Series: How to Earn A BSc(Hons) in Fighting Nightmares [2]
Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/M, Journalism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29696400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteampunkLadybird/pseuds/SteampunkLadybird
Summary: “There's a thrill in the chase”, Night Fury had said one night about catching London's criminals, and Astrid now had to agree. Chasing down a story was fun - exhilarating even.After Night Fury's visits start to become more and more regular, Astrid throws herself headlong into her English degree's practical part and goes on the hunt for who London's mysterious superheroes really are.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Series: How to Earn A BSc(Hons) in Fighting Nightmares [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906204
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Define: Mutagenics

SEMESTER 1; WEEK 11

_mutagenic (myoo-tuh-jen-ik) Genetics. Capable of inducing mutation or increasing its rate..._

Astrid had always been one to throw herself fully into her passions. This was becoming even truer since she found her passion for journalism.

_...mutagens may be of physical, chemical or biological origin, and can act directly on DNA, causing direct damage to the DNA..._

After Night Fury's visits started to become more and more regular, Astrid threw herself headlong into her English degree's practical part – granted, her phone wasn't the best for video and audio recording, but it was a good start, and besides, she was saving up for a proper video-camera for her birthday.

_The concept of a mutant is a common trope in comic books and science fiction..._

It started with little snapshots on her Instagram of Night Fury and his team's patrols and from there she was working her way up to blog posts, which then started blossoming into fully-fledged articles.

_In science fiction, mutagens are often represented as substances capable of completely changing the form of characters, or even granting them superpowers..._

“There's a thrill in the chase”, Night Fury had said one night about catching London's criminals, and Astrid now had to agree. Chasing down a story was fun - exhilarating even.

_... identified two major types of story: “genetic accident”, the uncontrolled, unexpected..._

It was sweet how the boy in the flat across the hall - Hiccup, he was known as - worried about her though. She and Hiccup had started bumping into each other in the SU or around the campuses almost as regularly as Night Fury's visits.

It was late on Tuesday evening when she bumped into Hiccup again at the university's library. She spotted him, hunched over a tablet and scribbling furiously, just as she was packing her laptop away. Grabbing her research notes from the desk, she sauntered over.

"Hi Hiccup!"

He practically jumped out of his seat. "Astrid! Astrid, hey! Hi, Astrid."

Astrid chuckled while pulling out the chair next to Hiccup's. She pretended not to notice his frantic scrabbling to put his notes away, the poor boy looked flustered enough as it was. "How was your weekend?"

"Pretty hectic, to be honest. Mum came down from Durham to see me, and she bought Cloudjumper along too, so naturally he made a mess of my apartment. Cloudjumper's my mum's German Shephard," Hiccup added as Astrid smiled at him, "and she absolutely loves him to pieces."

"That's so sweet. My parents never let us have dogs – Dad's allergic."

"Aw, shame. Hey – d'you want to see a picture of Cloudjumper?" He reached for his phone as Astrid shrugged out of her jacket. No sooner had Hiccup picked up his phone it began to ring in his hand. He looked at Astrid, sheepish. "Sorry, can I take this?"

Astrid nodded as Hiccup put the phone to his ear. "Jack, hey! What's up? – I need to be where, exactly? – Ok – Yeah, I'll be with you as soon as I can."

Hiccup ended the call and stared at his phone for a few seconds, his face a mix of disbelief and resignation. He let out a long sigh.

"Everything alright?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, just – uh, my coursemate is in labs right now and he's having a bit of a moment. Apparently if I don't get over there _pronto,_ he might accidentally blow the place up, so I should probably get over there before he causes the apocalypse…"

"Oh, no problem. Best not to keep the apocalypse waiting!" She joked.

Hiccup gave a nervous chuckle as he started shuffling his things together and stuffing them in his bag.

"Hey, uhm…" Hiccup stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I can send you the photo of Cloudjumper later, if you want."

Astrid grinned. "I'd like that."

"Could – Can I have your number?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part of a series (within a series) of short scenes focusing on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship throughout _BSc(Hons) Fighting Nightmares_
> 
> I think the chapter titles came from a prompt list on tumblr but as it's been 5 years since I copy-pasted that prompt list into a word document (and I forgot to reference it) there's no way I'd be able to find the original - sorry!


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